


A Better Make

by pinkevilbob



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-24
Updated: 2020-02-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:48:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22878184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkevilbob/pseuds/pinkevilbob
Summary: Caleb's new robot sees snow for the first time.
Relationships: Jester Lavorre/Caleb Widogast
Comments: 4
Kudos: 42





	A Better Make

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Talinor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Talinor/gifts).



> It was talinor's birthday yesterday. Happy late birthday! I hope it was a good one.
> 
> They asked for a robot au and this is what I came up with.

“Caleb!” the robot said. Jester smiled, but she was designed to always have a smile.

“Ja, Jester?” Caleb asked. Technically the robot’s designation was J-35-STR, but Nott insisted that he should give her a proper name.

The robot took Caleb’s hand. “Look! Look outside.”

Caleb followed her with a bemused smile to the window. “Ja? It’s snowing.” He hid a frown behind his hand. He hadn’t prepared Jester yet for the snow, and the shack he and Nott called home was doubly ill-suited for the cold.

“I’ve never seen snow before,” Jester said.

“Ah, well it’s pretty to look at, but it’s miserable to be out in.” Caleb sighed.

Jester stared out the window. “Will it snow for long?”

“Ja, most likely,” Caleb said. He watched Jester as her mechanical tail swished about. Originally, he was just going to fix up the robot he found in the junkyard and sell it, but he found himself making excuses to keep her. But with the snow coming and it promising to be a miserable winter, he and Nott needed the money more than ever.

“I downloaded some videos on snow,” Jester said. “Can we play in it?”

Caleb shook his head. “Nein. You weren’t made for the snow and neither was I.”

Jester pouted. “But it will be fun!”

“Breaking down won’t be fun, though,” Caleb said. “Do you want me to spend all day fixing you again?”

Jester hung her head down. “No.” It was amazing how life-like she was. Sometimes Caleb would swear that she was just another person.

“Then we’ll stay out of the snow,” Caleb said.

“Can we have hot chocolate anyways?” Jester asked.

Caleb stared at her. “Where did you hear about that?”

“In the video I downloaded. They played outside and then had hot chocolate.”

“That is something people do,” Caleb said, “but you don’t eat food.”

Jester shrugged. “Yeah, but it looks fun.”

Caleb shook his head. She was certainly something else. He had tried to look up her model, but he couldn’t find anything on her and neither could Nott. “I suppose it is.”

“Do you ever do that sort of thing?” Jester asked.

“I did once.” Caleb stared out the window. “But that was long ago. And what sort of question is that for a robot to ask?”

Jester shrugged. “I don’t know, but I’d like to do that sort of thing some day.” Sometimes it almost felt like she wasn’t a robot at all, but that made little sense. But very little made sense about Jester. She didn't seem to have any functional purpose. Perhaps she could’ve been a companion bot, but Jester had none of the standard features. 

“Perhaps you will,” Caleb said. He tried to justify keeping Jester by saying that lack of functionality would make her unsellable, but there were plenty of people that would pay good money for her as just a curiosity. 

The wind picked up rattling the windows. Caleb pulled his coat tighter around himself. It was only the beginning of the winter and it was only going to get colder. Nott wouldn't say anything, but they were in desperate need of the money. He didn't have a choice; Caleb was going to have to sell Jester in the morning.

Jester pointed out the window. "Oh, Caleb. A shooting star! Making a wish."

"It's snowing. I think you saw something else," Caleb said.

Jester frowned. "Oh. I was hoping to finally see a shooting star. You should make a wish anyways."

Caleb looked at her as she beamed at him. "Ja?"

"Yeah!" Jester nodded grinning.

"Alright." Caleb took a breath and closed his eyes. He wished that he didn't have to sell Jester.

She nudged his shoulder. "What did you wish for?"

"If I tell you, then it'll never come true," Caleb said. Not that it would come true anyways.

"But if you tell me, maybe I can help make it come true," Jester said.

Caleb smiled softly at her. "I think this is beyond even you."

The door slammed open and Nott hurried in. Fighting that wind, she forced the door close. She carried a large bag in her arms. "Big news!"

Jester hurried over and helped Nott put the bag on the table. Caleb peered over into it to find it was full of groceries. "Where did you get all this?" he asked. There was no way they could've afforded it and it was too big of a haul for Nott not to get caught stealing.

"That's the big news. I found some fancy bowls in the junkyard," Nott said. "Turns out they were worth a ton." She pulled out a bag of coins.

Caleb quickly counted them. It wasn't as much as Jester would get them, but if they were careful, it would be enough to get them through the winter possibly part way through spring. "Nott." He didn't know what to say.

Nott grinned up at him. "Now we don't have to sell anything we'd regret."

"There's even hot chocolate!" Jester called out. She'd dumped out all the groceries onto the table without any attempt to put them away.

"Yeah, we'll make some later," Nott said cheerfully.

Caleb pressed his forehead to Nott's and hugged her. "Danke."

"I never knew you liked coco so much," Nott said.

"That not what I me-"

Nott put her hand on Caleb's arm. "I know. Now let's put everything away before Jester starts knocking things off the table."

"Oh, ja," Caleb said.He couldn't fight the grin on his face. His wish really did come true.


End file.
